Closure means for reels



Aug. 6, 1940 A. B. BROWN CLOSURE MEANS FOR REELS Filed Feb. 6, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet INVEA/ TOR A. 8. BROWN A TTORNEV Aug. 6, 1940. A. B. BRQWN 2,210,524

CLOSURE MEANS FOR REELS Filed Feb. S 195? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6'

INVENTOR A. 8. BROWN A TTOR/VEV Patented Aug. 6, 1940 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOSURE MEANS FOR REELS Application February 6, 1937, Serial No. 124,458

5 Claims.

. This invention relatesto closure means for reels and more particularly to means for enclosing the large reels used for storing and transporting cables, especially such cables as are used 5 for power transmission and in the communications arts.

Reels for storing cable usually comprise, as an integral or built up fabric, a cylindrical drum having at either end a transverse generally disk 10 like head, the cable being wound on the drum in layers between the head. For protection to the cable in transportation, and also in some instances, to afford added strength to the reel, after the reel has been filled with cable, a series 15 of transverse bars or similar elements, known in the art as lags or lagging is secured around the outer periphery of the reel, extending axially thereof from rim to rim of the reel heads.

An object of the present invention is to provide metal lagging, especially for use with metal or metal rimmed reels, which shall be simple to manufacture, easily applied to and removed from a reel without damage to either reel or lagging, shall aiford support to the reel heads when in place thereon and mutual support to the elements f the lagging.

One embodiment of the invention contemplates a lagging element for attachment across the heads of a reel having a sheet metal body formed 30 with a generally channel shape adapted to extend between the peripheral portions of the heads of a reel to brace them apart, extensions to lie over and rest on the peripheral surfaces of the heads, downturned terminal members to hook '35 over the peripheral portions of the heads tohold them together, means to clamp the hooked over portions in place on the reel, and lateral resilient closure members on the sides of the lagging ele- -ment body to coact with similar members on ad- 40 jacent element bodies to seal each element to the next, whereby to form a continuous tight lagging around the reel.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following detailed descrip- 45 tion of one embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numerals are applied to identical parts in the several figures and in which Fig. 1 is a broken View in side elevation of a steel cable reel having mounted thereon a plurality of lags constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 55 2 -2 of Fig. 1;

and 25 which flare away from each other.

at 2'! and 28 so that the outer portions of the Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of one of the lags;

Fig. 4 is a corresponding end view thereof;

Fig. 5 is a corresponding sideview thereof;

Fig. 6 is a broken plan View of a modified form 5 of the lagging in place on a reel;

Fig. 7 is a broken side View thereof, and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section on the line 88 of Fig. 6.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in 10 Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the lags I0 embodying the invention are shown as applied to a steel reel II which comprises a pair of parallel heads having angle iron spokes l2, sheet metal liners l4, and I-b-eam rims 15. The structure of the reel is no part of the present invention, but reference may be had for a disclosure in detail of such a reel to U. S. Patent 1,944,188 issued January 23, 1934, on an application of L. R. McGuire. The only feature of the reel conditioned by the present invention is that each head of the reel have a circular outerperiphery H5 or I1 and undercut recesses 18 or [9 adjacent to the periphery and separated therefrom by a flange or the like 20 or 2|. The recesses l8 and I9, as in the reel shown, may be peripherally continuous, or in other cases might, as will hereinafter appear, be a series of peripherally discontinuous portions.

The lag 10 itself, as best shown in Figs. 3, 4i and 5, has a generally channel shaped sheet metal body with a fiat top 22 and fiat integral sides 24 The ends of the sides 24 and 25 are notched as shown sides may fit down between the inner peripheries of the rims l5 (see Fig. 2) and thus space the rims securely apart against accidental external pressure. The lower edge portions 29 and 30 are curled up into partial cylinders which are slight- 1y resilient to transverse pressure, so that when a'series of the lags are laid in place side by side on a reel and pressed together, the abutted cylindrical portions form a tight seal between the lags.

At each end of the lag is inset a sheet metal end piece having a fiat to'p32 and sides 34 and 35 formed to fit closely against the, inner faces of the top 22 and sides 24 and 25 respectively of the lag body, and secured thereto, e. g. by spot welding as at 3 I. Each of these end pieces is further formed with a downturned integral end wall'36 or 31 secured to the sides 34 and. 35, e. g. by welding as at 33. The body ofthe lag and the end pieces are so dimensioned that when the 55 lag is in place on a reel, as in Fig. 2, the end walls 36 and 3'! fit down over the outer edges of the reel rims with only sufficient clearance to be easily laid in place.

One end wall 31 has a stud 38 permanently mounted therein to hook under the periphery 2! of the reel rim and into the recess I9. The other end wall 36 has a removable threaded screw 39 mounted-therein to hook under the periphery 2d of the reel rim and into the recess I8. As these lags may be used on reels of a considerable range of diameter, the stud 38 is set sufficiently below the top wall 32 and the top edges of the notches 28 to permit of placing the lag on reels of varying curvature of periphery, and to allow for the play needed to hook the permanently mounted stud into place in the recess I9. The screw 39 is preferably located closer to the flange 20, as it may be put in place after the lag is positioned. However, where the lag is intended for use with one dimension and one model only of reels, both the stud 38 and screw 39 may be located to draw against the slightly sloping under face of the flange 29 to lock the lag positively into position. Ordinarily, however, the lags as shown will have a little radial play on the reel; but, if positioned closely enough together, their sealing members 29 and 38 will enable them to provide a tight covering for the reel and its contents.

Furthermore, if a given number of lags just sufiices to cover a reel of a certain diameter, the same number of lags will satisfactorily cover a reel triflingly smaller by standing radially a trifle away from the periphery and being held in place by their studs and screws while not actually simultaneously resting their ends on the reel rim. Thus the lags constructed as disclosed have a relatively wide flexibility of application in use. The embodiment shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, there is disclosed a kind of lagging which employs what might be called a multiple lag. Here a suitably longitudinally curved strip of sheet metal is formed with a plurality (here shown as two) of transverse corrugations I24, I25 intervening between substantially flat portions I22, the strip being wide enough, as shown in Fig. 8, to cover both rim flanges 20 and 2| of the reel. The ends of the strip are turned down and formed at their lower edges with upcurved partial cylinders I29 and I 3!] having the same shape and function as the curved ends 29 and 30 in the preceding embodiment.

The downturned ends and the downpressed corrugations of the strip are cut away, as shown in Fig. 8 to provide stop shoulders I21 and I28 to hold the rims apart.

A piece of angle'iron I32, I36 or I32, I31, suitably longitudinally curved, is applied on and welded to each edge of the strip as shown to provide a downturned end wall I36 or I31. Two or more studs I38 are mounted in the wall I31 to hook under the flange 2I and into the recess I9; and two or more split pins I39 are removably mounted in corresponding bores in the wall I36.

The manner of using these multiple lags will be apparent from the drawings and from the description above of the use of the unit lags of Figs. 1 to inclusive.

It will be apparent that the screws 39 and split pins I39 may'be used in either the unit lag or the multiple lag as desired, or any other familiar type of removable stud may be substituted for either.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is illustrative only and may be widely departed from and modified in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Closure means for a reel having two spaced heads each with a peripheral rim and a recess adjacent thereto, the said means comprising a body to span the two rims of a reel and overhang the rims with portions extending along the sides of the rims to hold the rims together, resilient means on the body to space the rims apart and to seal the body against an abutted similar body, and means on each overhanging portion of the body to enter one of the recesses in the reel heads to secure the body in place on the reel.

2. Closure means for a reel having two spaced heads each with a peripheral rim and a recess adjacent thereto, the said means comprising a body to span the two rims of a reel and overhang the rims with radially extending portions to hold the rims together, a resilient portion of the body to seal the same against an abutted similar body, stop means. on the body to space the rims apart, and means on each overhanging portion to enter one of the recesses in the reel heads to secure the closure means in place upon the reel.

3. Closure means for a reel having two spaced heads each with a peripheral rim, the said means comprising a body to span the two rims of a reel, resilient members on each-side of the body positioned to be engaged by similar members of other bodies, end members positioned to overhang the heads and extend toward the axis thereof, andv means on each overhanging member to secure the closure means upon the reel.

4. Closure means for a reel having two spaced heads each with a recess in one side adjacent the periphery thereof, the said means comprising a body conditioned to span the two heads of a reel, resilient members on each side of the body positioned to be engaged by similar members of other bodies, end members positioned to overhang the heads and extend toward the axis thereof, an inwardly projecting member carried by one of the end members and conditioned to enter one of the recesses upon movement of the body in place on the heads, and a locking member carried by the other end member and to enter the other recess to lock the body on the reel.

5. Closure means for a reel having two spaced heads each with a recess in one side adjacent the periphery thereof, the said means comprising a body conditioned to span the two heads of a reel, inwardly extending resilient members on each side of the body so constructed and arranged as to be engaged by similar members of other bodies and to space the heads apart, end members positioned to overhang the'heads and. extend toward the axis thereof to hold the heads, an inwardly projecting member carried by one of the end members and conditioned to enter one of the recesses upon movement of the body in place on the heads, and a locking member carried by the other end member and to enter the other recess to lock the body on the reel.

ALFRED B. BROWN. 

